Nova Scotia Power announces power rates taking effect Jan. 1

Power rates for some customer groups in Nova Scotia will be going down in 2016, according to a statement from Nova Scotia Power released Wednesday.

As of Jan. 1, rates will go down by 0.9 per cent for residential customers and 2.2 per cent for small businesses.

Here are the changes for all other customer classes:

• Medium-sized commercial business: 1.3 per cent decrease
• Small industrial: 1.8 per cent decrease
• Large-sized commercial business, medium and large industrial: no change

In November, the utility hinted decreases could be a possibilityin the new year.

Nova Scotia Power says it's operating "with the goal of no general rate increases," though the cost of fuel, which accounts for approximately 35 per cent of power rates, could force rates to increase between one and 1.5 per cent between2017 and 2019.

The Nova Scotia government announced performance standards last month, including penalties of up to $1 million if the utility does not measure up in areas of reliability, storm response and customer service.

The province intends to pass legislation this fall that will set a framework for the standards, which will guide the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board as it enforces the new rules.

The standards also callfor 40 per cent renewable electricity by 2020, and between 16 and 22 megawatts of electricity from in-stream tidal production near Parrsboro by the early 2020s.

In Wednesday's release, Nova Scotia Power says it's on track to achieve the 40 per cent goal. The company says over 25 per cent of electricity was generated by renewable sources in 2015.